I have been doing some investigating and I'm about to reveal the TRUTH about alpha2data.
Shortly after placing a bid on eBay (BUT NOT WITH ALPHA2DATA), I received the following email labeled below as "1st email".
Although I thought that this was highly UNETHICAL that a seller should email another sellers bidders with an email of this sort during an auction, I just disregarded it.
But then a couple weeks later I got another email that had language in it VERY SIMILAR to the first. After studying the "2nd email" I was completely convinced that it was in fact written by alpha2data as well. Again I thought to myself that this person has absolutely NO MORALS.
Anyhow, I'm not going to get any further into my opinions about this person. But one thing that I did find very interesting is that I think these emails prove that alpha2data posts promotional and self serving threads in this forum under aliases with the intent to defraud and mislead consumers.
For instance, let's take this "Michael". Who is Michael? Check out these threads below and look for the user "Michael" and read his posts. Don't forget to take note of his email address.
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: remotecentral.com]
[Link: remotecentral.com]
Now take a look at the headers of the two emails I have included here. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that alpha2data and Michael are the same person.
alpha2data (Bruce), SHAME ON YOU!!
1st email
Date: Sat, Jan 6th 2001 00:06:19 Filter sender
From: Alpha2Data <[email protected]> Add to Address Book
To: [email protected]
Cc: View Header
Subject: CAUTION! CONSUMER ALERT! ON EURO SILVER PRONTO MODEL SBC RU890 Include Original: Yes/No
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: via chekdeliver for [email protected];
Sat, 6 Jan 2001 00:06:18 -0500 (EST)
Received: (qmail 4826 invoked from network); 6 Jan 2001 05:06:17 -0000
Received: from ha1.rdc1.nj.home.com (HELO mail.rdc1.nj.home.com) (24.3.128.66)
by 10.10.1.6 with SMTP; 6 Jan 2001 05:06:17 -0000
Received: from cc796256a ([24.3.152.218]) by mail.rdc1.nj.home.com
(InterMail vM.4.01.03.00 201-229-121) with SMTP
id <[email protected]>;
Fri, 5 Jan 2001 21:06:17 -0800
Message-ID: <008d01c0779e$63932660$[email protected]>
Reply-To: "Alpha2Data" <[email protected]>
From: "Alpha2Data" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Subject: CAUTION! CONSUMER ALERT! ON EURO SILVER PRONTO MODEL SBC RU890
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 00:04:43 -0500
Organization: @Home
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0075_01C07774.45B55FC0"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300
X-Loop: [email protected]
CAUTION! CONSUMER ALERT!
THE SILVER PRONTOS DIRECTLY IMPORTED FROM EUROPE WITH THE MODEL NUMBER SBC RU890
ARE NOT! THE SAME AS THE _NEWER_ SILVER US MODEL TSU2000.
Aside from the similarity of the silver color the "EURO" model DOES
NOT HAVE the New US models's NEWER DOUBLE MEMORY AND THE NEWER UNIVERSAL
DATABASE, Or the NEW CDROM.
The Euro model is the equivalent of the older US mode TS1000 that is now either
dis-continued or soon to be. (I have not been able to verify the current status
of the TS1000 due to the holiday week). DON'T BE FOOLED.
You can check the specs of the SBC RU890 out at the following Philips link in
Europe: ce-europe.philips.com]
SBC RU890 SPECS LINK by clicking on the highlight if your mail
gets HTML.
OR if your email does not treat that link correctly, there is one that I just
added to the bottom of my eBay item# 1205155942 that recently closed, or if
your email supports HTML, just use the following link:
[Link: cgi.ebay.com]
You can a current auction for the newest US Silver pronto
[Link: cgi.ebay.com]
(if not, you should be able to cut and paste the one of the links into your
browser.)
I am certainly not implying that any Seller is mis-representing anything. Just
the opposite. The Seller has clearly stated the model number, but what is left
out is important. Certainly they are possibly offering a good buy on an older
model and that is fine. However, you as a buyer should be aware of what you are
buying to make an informed decision based upon the factual differences.
2nd email
Date: Sun, Jan 21st 2001 16:39:33 Filter sender
From: HOW'S WHO ON eBAY <[email protected]> Add to Address Book
To: HOW'S WHO <[email protected]> Download Message
Cc: View Header
Subject: The NEW How's Who Now Featuring Prontos On eBay Include Original: Yes/No
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: via chekdeliver for [email protected];
Sun, 21 Jan 2001 16:39:33 -0500 (EST)
Received: (qmail 32578 invoked from network); 21 Jan 2001 21:39:32 -0000
Received: from mercury.cyberwarp.net (209.51.166.5)
by 10.10.1.7 with SMTP; 21 Jan 2001 21:39:32 -0000
Received: from cc796256a (ip250.fmdl-pm3.cyberwarp.net [209.51.173.250])
by mercury.cyberwarp.net (8.9.3/8.9.3) with SMTP id QAA46801;
Sun, 21 Jan 2001 16:21:28 -0500 (EST)
(envelope-from [email protected])
Message-ID: <02c301c083f0$665c7960$[email protected]>
Reply-To: "HOW'S WHO ON eBAY" <[email protected]>
From: "HOW'S WHO ON eBAY" <[email protected]>
To: "HOW'S WHO" <[email protected]>
Subject: The NEW How's Who Now Featuring Prontos On eBay
Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2001 16:14:32 -0500
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_02BC_01C083C5.3DCE4C60"
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300
X-Loop: [email protected]
Hello eBay Pronto Bidders... [IF this is a duplicate sorry. We had a mail
server error]
We are experimenting with a service that is designed to give bidders
intelligence to help in their purchases in online auctions. This service is now
free, and if you don't want the info sent, please let us know to remove you, or
if you appreciate the info, let us know that too or what other products you will
be looking for in an online auction.
This week we are featuring the Pronto auctions on eBay.....
Please note that the information is current as to the time of gathering, so we
cannot be responible for a constantly changing online situation. The bottom
line for you is to use the intelligence to possibly help in making a
bid/purchase decision and it should be used to SEARCH BY SELLER _in addition to_
an item search since we do not include any specific auctions by item number AND
you will get different listings for the Prontos depending upon the wording you
use to do the search.
Here's the intelligent "skinny" to help you out with a Pronto purchase
on eBay...
The lineup in alphabetical order:
(NOT in order of any preference, we DO NOT PICK we only try to inform - .com
left off)
a] Alpha2Data feedback rating 93
b] [email protected]
feedback rating 19
c] [email protected]
feedback rating 1006
d] wael68 feedback rating 45
The Quick Summary:
Alpha2Data currently has the most units at the lowest price. Their feedback is
excellent with respect to delivery and follow through. They appear to
specialize in multi-unit auctions of the latest U.S. version of the Pronto in
both as a single units and with the DS1000 as well as the DS1000 itself.
Onlinesales24 has a good feedback profile. They appear to be good at follow
through and support. They seem to specialize in higher priced single unit
"Buy It Now" auctions. A good number of their auctions that close
without Buy It Now seem to not meet their reserve and we couldn't find a recent
auction for a combination that did.
Hififorless has a high feedback rating but mostly it comes from non-Pronto
sales. The are more diverse in their online offerings. They offer small
quantity Ductch auctions currently at $289.00. Our first impression was that
they were the highest priced seller, and can afford to be because compared to
their variety of offerings on eBay they are only trying to "catch" a
Pronto bid, but again, that's our impression and you have to do a search by
seller to see what's current.
Wae168 - We have a lot to say here because there appear to be many caveats
The seller does not offer the newest lastest US version of the Pronto with all
the improvements. They currently specialize in directly importing the older Euro
version of the Pronto that becuase of its Silver color was quite popular around
Christmas before the newer US model, the TSU2000 was introduced in a Silver
color too AND with multiple improvements as well as a feature set that was not
available before and still isn't on the Euro version. We take issue with the
comparisions in their item descriptions that appear to be designed to keep a
bidder less informed and make possibly wrong judgements from information
presented in such a way that the bidder may think they are getting something
through inference that they are not. We must state that this is ONLY our
impression and opinion.
You may feel differently, however, one example is the warranty that they list as
an "International Warranty", but they do not specifically state that
your Pronto purchase will be covered by North American Philips here in the US
only that there is a US number listed. It is possible that the US number will
only be honored for the Euro unit if it was bought in Europe and the buyer moved
here. Very unclear. We recommend calling North American Philips before
bidding.
Also, though the seller has now changed their page to indicate they are
comparing to the "blue" Pronto, they still don't present the fact that
the TS1000 ("blue" Pronto) has been replaced by the newer TSU2000 at
the same pricing we should add, with later software that cannot currently be
downloaded but comes on a new CDROM that was introduced with that model, nor
that the TSU2000 has double the memory, nor that the TSU2000 has the addition of
a Universal Database feature.
Note that this new software is not just "next level" x.0? versions of
the Pronto software. It could be called "next generation". Do Not DL
the versions online as they are not useable in the newer US Pronto. It is also
unclear whether the Euro Silver unit with the latest DL software that is
available for it will be at the current level of the new US version. We suspect
not just based upon the addition of the new Universal Database to the newer US
model; Again, we are not sure as of this writing.... but, why take chances??
